God Wants a Satisfying Life for You

You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. Psalm 145:16


Do you really believe that God wants you to be satisfied? Trust me here, I’m not turning into one of those preachers who promises that you’ll be healthy, wealthy and wise. But the opposite of that tends to say: “Life on this earth is supposed to suck so we will long for Heaven.” Besides, if life wasn’t hard, how would we ever develop godly character? Yes, I sometimes tap into the gift of martyrdom. The trouble is that you can only use it once.


God opens His hand to us. He doesn’t hold back. God desires to give us every good thing (James 1:17). But, our Puritan ways dictate that if we get too much of what we want, then we’ll get fat and happy and forget about our need for God. I don’t know about you, but I tend to like people who give me stuff. If God will truly satisfy the desires of my heart (Psalm 37:4), I’m not going to hold that against Him. He certainly won’t hold that against me.


Now, at this point, I am obligated to say that there is a right way and a wrong way to fulfill your desires. Many people fall in love with someone or something. They become so enamored with that someone or something that this must be from God. As the great theologian, Barbara Mandrell, said “If loving you is wrong, I don’t want to be right.” The things that we depend on to satisfy our desires become idols and addictions.


For some, this is eating or vegging out in front of the TV (okay, those are mine). For others, it’s working or drinking or surfing into the darkness. For some, it’s a relationship, whether it’s love or hate. The problem is that we get stuck on these things and aren’t ever satisfied in the way that God intends. (If you just said, “I’m stuck,” then check out Over Haulin’ on Thursday nights at Brookwood).


Can you trust God with your desires? He actually gave them to you. Do you believe that God wants you to live a satisfying life? This is God’s vision for your life. Just like we want our kids to have a happy childhood, God wants you and me to have great lives. He really does.


This entire psalm is certainly a cure for a bad day.
It will even elevate a good day. Take a moment to read about what kind of Heavenly Father we have: Psalm 145.


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